Corsica

Corsica, a Mediterranean island, is famous for being the birthplace of the greatest political leader in French history, Napoleon Bonaparte. A year before Napoleon's birth, Corsica was sold from Italian to French possession.

Napoleon was born on August 15, 1769 in Ajaccio, Corsica to Carlo and Marie-Letizia Buonaparte. He later tweaked his surname to make it sound more French. Napoleon grew up in a fairly wealthy environment: His father was a lawyer and his family belonged to the Corsican nobility. He left Corsica in 1779 to attend a military academy in mainland France, but returned to Corsica after the outbreak of the French revolution in 1789. There, he supported Corsican rebel Pasquale Paoli. Napoleon led a riot that defeated a French army, and was then strangely promoted to Captain in the French military. After he opposed Paoli because of their conflicting goals, Napoleon and his family fled to France in 1793. Napoleon never returned to his homeland following these events, but the island is nonetheless significant as his birthplace and the site of his early military exploits.